Tag Archives: Fashion

Not because I needed it, but because the tween magazines back then were very popular amongst the girls in my school and they contained “How-To’s” for putting on make-up and which colours suited your eyes, etc.

One of my best friends would always get the coolest gifts for her Birthday and Christmas, usually which consisted of a multi-colour make-up compact complete with everything required to put on a full face of make-up.

We would go in to the girls bathroom with her make-up and the tween magazines and try to re-create what we saw on the pages and for the most part (at least in our 11-12 year old minds) we looked good. What pre-pubescent boy wouldn’t take interest and want to sneak in a kiss behind the bushes after school?

Magazines from the 80’s.

This was my introduction in to the world of cosmetics.

Upon entering the institution of high school, I noticed that more girls were wearing make-up and had their hair done nicely. These were the popular girls. I wanted to be one of them. I would get up early everyday and make sure that my make-up was perfect and the not a strand of hair was out of place. It didn’t make me popular, but I felt that it kept me in the “neutral zone”, so that I wouldn’t get picked on. I still got picked on, but not because I was “ugly”, but because I was overweight.

Teenagers can be so cruel.

I remember being in grade 9 and a cute boy asked me to be his girlfriend. He was a nice guy and I really liked him. He would come to my school after class and wait by my locker for me. The popular girls couldn’t believe it and even tried to convince him that they’d be better off with them instead of me. He didn’t fall for it. I thank him for that to this day.

Jumping ahead a couple of years to grade 11, I was in an art class and the project that we were doing was to take plaster cast material and make a mask of our face to later paint. I was mortified and on the verge of tears. I would have to be make-upless in front of my classmates and one of the most popular guys, that picked on me, was in my class!!! After everyone started, I went up to my teacher, discretely, and expressed my fear. She sympathized with me and suggested that I come in before school started the following day and she would do it for me and I would have enough time to put my face back on before anyone saw me.

Great teacher!

If anyone asked me who my most memorable teacher was, I’d definitely have to say her because she was the most kind and helpful woman to me during my most trying years. This is also the teacher who suggested that I take a Make-up Artistry Program once I graduated. Which I did. Funny enough, I didn’t take the course because of fashion make-up, it was because I wanted to do the Special Effects Make-up. Now THAT is my passion.

So after completing the Make-up Program, I managed to get a few jobs, but they were VERY boring ones. Subsequently, this led to the demise of my Make-Up Artist career path. I did not want to work at a cosmetics counter.

Makeup Artist at work.

Jump ahead 19 years, and the idea of being a MUA gets rekindled. I have spent all these years perfecting MY look, so I am familiar with day make-up as well as evening looks. But cosmetics have come a long way since I finished school and the techniques and cosmetics themselves have evolved and I am standing here unfamiliar and overwhelmed. The investment in starting up a Make-up Artistry business is a pretty big one because there are so many different skin types and skin colours, that your kit would be massive to accommodate all your clients. I think for the time being, I’ll stick to being my own make-up artist.

Do you go au naturel or would you not be caught dead going out without “putting your face on”?